Our show "Raíces" had been on a short 3 day tour.
On Friday we went to Birmingham (Sutton Coldfield to be precise) to play at Flamenco Nights https://www.flamenconights.co.uk organized by our lovely friend and host Marta.
Although we have had presented some pieces of Raíces in previous visits, this was the actual debut at the venue, The Walmley Club, since this time the company played the full show featuring the original members:
Dancer - Lourdes Fernandez
Singer - Monica Garcia
Violinist - Fuensanta Zambrana
Percussionist - Demi Garcia
Guitarist - Adrian Sola
Assistants not only had the chance to watch our beautiful show, included in the deal there was a lovely Spanish supper curated by Marta and her husband Andrea.
There was a good selection of tapas including cured meats, white asparagus and salmorejo, (aka "porra" the cold soup often mistaken for gazpacho).
Paella as the main course and a superb home-made lemon cheese cake for desert.
Marta's dedication and devotion for her business and her love and passion for flamenco is remarkable. Although they are on a league on their own, one can only wish there were just a few more initiatives like this around.
After a good night sleep and a nice breakfast we said goodbye to Marta and her family and hit the road to the next venue, now in Wales, at MOMA Machynlleth "The Tabernacle"
This show was part of the town's yearly festival It features top notch musicians for what I felt very humbled but not as much as when I gleaned the magnitude of the artist that would be playing at the very same stage as us, none other than the pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja!
What a selected audience we had, I have to mention Fuensanta's mum that came with her friend and also Tita Pauli... all that went through my mind during our performance makes up for another story.
I think we did pretty well judging by the standing ovation we received at the end. Right by then I also noticed Liam (http://worldwidewelshman.com) in the audience! it turns out he had moved out of London back to Wales when the pandemic started and was now settled in Machynlleth.
It was nice to chat with him and also Julius Drake (https://www.juliusdrake.com), (the festival organizer and piano master) over some pints after the show. Great musicians, great people in Mach!
Next morning, super important event! I set about 3 alarms so I wouldn't miss it:
The Wynnstay's (https://www.wynnstay.wales) full set, with tea.
All set and packed up we went back in the car for a long journey to London, next stop: The Green Note in Camden Town.
For this show we had Ayoze De Alejandro playing percussion for us since Demi had a gig in Wales that evening.
The Green Note and its audience gives such a nice vibe, we feel so pampered every time. believe flamenco works very well in small venues, the intimacy that can develop between artists and audience, the acoustics may resemble that of a home, a patio, a cellar... the close quarters in which the public's attention and the performers skills interact oblige us to give our best, for there is no trickery nor technical gizmo (ni trampa ni cartón) to disguise our struggles, our efforts, our limits... the vulnerability of our bodies and minds, the dedication of our hearts and souls to the art and craft, in essence, our human condition, all exposed.
Again, I thank everybody that came to watch this show, and organisers, promoters, technicians and all people involved to create the opportunities and spaces for all artists, my colleagues and me to show our work.
Love.
Adrian.
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